Wind Power

As reported by Tokyo-based newspaper Nikkei Asian Review, plans are afoot to transform Fukushima into a renewable energy hub, with 21 wind and solar plants to be built and the power to be fed into the national grid for use in the country’s capital.

According to new climate modeling data, the Northern hemisphere’s wind farms could see a dramatic downturn in productivity over the next hundred years, as climate change disrupts some of the key drivers that shape the world’s wind patterns. The news is better down South.

A new study has found that wind speeds over the oceans could allow offshore turbines to generate far more energy than a land-based wind farm – with the North Atlantic, in particular, theoretically able to provide enough energy for all of human civilization.

Green Cat Technologies has possibly the most interesting concept at this year's Düsseldorf Caravan Salon in a caravan that folds out into a roomy living space with solar and wind power generation. The sCarabane even rotates 360 degrees at camp, tracking the sun to generate electricity and hot water.

The Oklahoma panhandle will soon be home to the largest wind farm in the United States, and the second largest in the world. GE Renewable Energy and Invenergy have announced the new 2,000-MW facility will be built over the next few years as part of the Wind Catcher Energy Connection project.

​Part zero-emission experiment, part floating laboratory, the Energy Observer recently arrived in Paris on the first stop of its six-year, 50-country mission around the world. The refurbished racing catamaran is powered by wind, solar and hydrogen generated from the seawater through electrolysis.

One of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world has just started turning in the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands. Hidden over the horizon, the Gemini wind farm isn't visible from the mainland or the neighboring islands, and is set to produce about 2.6 TWh of electricity every year.

Delivering more bang for your buck is one thing but is renewable energy ready to face off with fossil fuels? With falling investment costs and renewable power capacity hitting a record high last year, a new UN report is optimistic about its prospects.

The rapid growth of solar arrays and wind farms might sound like a win for the environment, but storing renewable sources of energy efficiently on the grid​ remains a challenge for energy providers. EU scientists are turning to a cheap and plentiful natural resource for the answer: air.

The 600,000 Dutch that travel daily by train will now do so thanks purely to wind energy, with the national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) announcing that 100 percent of its passenger trains will be powered by the renewable source from January onwards.

The first offshore wind farm in the US has begun generating electricity about 3 miles off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. The facility has a capacity of 30 MW and is expected to produce around 125,000 MWh of electricity annually.

Manufacturing small, efficient cars is still a big, dirty business. Nissan was one of the first to make big changes in the hope of lowering its production carbon footprint, and now GM has promised to use only renewable energy in its global operations by 2050.